


Her Imperial Majesty

by indigo_inks



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Character Study, Dark Side Rey, Empress Rey, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:20:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24184276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indigo_inks/pseuds/indigo_inks
Summary: Empress Rey is seated upon her throne.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18
Collections: Villain of My Own Story Exchange 2020





	Her Imperial Majesty

**Author's Note:**

  * For [inquisitor_tohru](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inquisitor_tohru/gifts).



Empress Rey is seated upon her throne. Sixty-four thousand of her most devout, most loyal worshipers surround her on all sides of the amphitheater. They roar their approval, sixty-four thousand mouths with a single voice, and the volume of it is nearly deafening.

Today, one year and one day since her ascension, is a special day, and it is a day long awaited. Yes, it has been long in coming.

Although she is the galaxy’s rightful empress – this is a truth beyond question – she has not always known the grandeur of her heritage and birthright. Once upon a time, she’d been a nobody, a scavenger who didn’t even have a stool to sit upon, much less a throne. She’d been hidden…from the galaxy, from her grandfather, from _herself._

“Someday,” she’d vowed, after Unkar Plutt had stiffed her yet again on portions, rage and resentment turning her vision to a blood-dimmed haze, “I won’t have to work myself half to death for anybody. I’ll be free…and _they_ will work themselves to death and beyond for _me_.”

Her life changed when Kylo Ren came to Jakku. His mere presence awakened the Dark Side of the Force within her, and after they made a pact to destroy his former master together, he pledged his fealty, his life, and his lightsaber blade to her. He’d been told who she was, you see, like a whisper in his ear, and he shared the secret with her. He said he was certain that she, Palpatine’s granddaughter and he, Vader’s grandson, were destined for one another.

Rey, however, had other plans. She took Kylo Ren’s lightsaber from him, broke open the hilt, and removed the cracked crimson kyber crystal. Then she placed it within her own quarterstaff and turned a desert scavenger’s trusty all-purpose tool into a fearsome, double-bladed saberstaff, its twin red blades snapping and crackling with furious plasma energy.

With her new weapon in hand, recovering the Wayfinder on Mustafar was simplicity itself. As was the route to Exegol. She met her grandfather, his life grotesquely, unnaturally maintained, and put him out of his misery. And as he’d promised, all the power of the Sith – all _his_ power – passed into her.

And with it, his Force-given right to rule.

The ceiling opens overhead. Empress Rey lifts her head up towards the Exegol’s sky and raises her hands. Her eyes flash gold. Sith lightning pours out of her fingertips, and the engines of every Star Destroyer in her planet-killing fleet are activated. They rise in perfect formation.

“You will take back my Empire, and the Sith will rise again,” says Empress Rey.

They hear her. From the grandest admiral to the lowest ensign – her words reverberate in their minds. Sixty-four thousand mouths cheer as the first Star Destroyer, and then the second, and then third, makes the jump to hyperspace. A few worlds must needs be sacrificed, Empress Rey knows, before the rest will come obediently to heel.

She settles back into her throne, relaxed and well-satisfied. As a former scavenger, she sought power in order to be free. Now as empress, she knows better: Power isn’t a means to an end; power is the logical end to everything.

And oh, how she relishes it.


End file.
